“I started getting really busy,” says De Laurentiis. American audiences couldn’t get enough of the petite Roman-born, American-raised chef’s sunny passport to authentic Italian fare. As one of Food Network’s brightest stars, over the next decade she’d add a slew of new shows to her schedule (including Giada Entertains, Giada in Italy and Giada on the Beach) and open three restaurants (Giada and Pronto by Giada on the Las Vegas Strip and GDL Italian in Baltimore) while also turning out another five cookbooks. Her latest, Eat Better, Feel Better, was published this month and, in many ways, it’s her most personal yet.
A New Way of Eating
“It seemed like the busier I got, the sicker I got,” De Laurentiis, now 50, recalls. At first, she chalked it up to frequent travel and having a young child (daughter Jade, now 12, with ex-husband Todd Thompson) who brought home every bug from school. But that didn’t explain the constellation of health issues: a constant sinus infection, rosacea, bloating, constipation, swelling under her eyes, fatigue and brain fog. To boost her energy, she’d fall back on an old habit: feeding her sweet tooth. “I’d rely on a spoonful of straight sugar, a handful of chocolate chips, whatever it took to keep me going,” she says. “I remember this older DP [director of photography] saying to me on the set, ‘You know, you can’t do this forever.’ And I’d look at him and go, ‘Sugar and I—we’re best friends.’” More like frenemies, she realized as she got older, as were classic Italian staples like pasta, bread and cheese. “I love those things, and they were so ingrained in my upbringing, my childhood,” De Laurentiis says. “When I thought of comfort food, those were things I thought of.” Finally, she began to reevaluate what she was eating. Even though she was a seasoned chef, De Laurentiis found she had a lot to learn. “I felt I knew everything there was to know about eating healthy and cooking and making the right choices,” she says. “It took me a long time to figure out that although I had all that knowledge, I really didn’t know as much as I thought.” Eat Better, Feel Better is the result of her health and culinary journey, packed with recipes and strategies that she’s developed to feel good while still enjoying food she loves. Her story is personal, she says, but it’s bound to resonate with others. She began by eliminating foods to help identify what was contributing to some of her issues. She started with refined wheat and sugar, alcohol and dairy. “I have a three-day reboot in the book, which cuts out all of those things, giving your body a minute to sort of take a breather.” De Laurentiis then figured out how to have her beloved Italian ingredients, but in smaller amounts as she rebuilt her meals around vegetables. “You can have your pasta, meat and fish—but they’re a side dish. The greens are the main focus of your meal.”
Pandemic Cooking With Giada
The past year gave De Laurentiis a taste of the DIY TV shoots that have become common during quarantine when she shot Giada at Home 2.0 with her boyfriend (producer Shane Farley), daughter Jade and four iPhones. “I was scared out of my mind, to be honest,” she confesses. “I’d never done a show where I do my own hair and makeup, I do my own shopping. We had to shoot it ourselves, audio and all—it was intense.” But worth it. “Nervous as I was, it’s probably the most fun that I’ve had in a long time shooting a cooking show,” she says. “It was so intimate.” Even her beloved menagerie of cats (Bella and Luna) and pups (Bruno and Ollie) got in on the action. “There was a silliness and just a relaxed vibe that I don’t know that we could create when I have 50 people around me.”
Bobby & Giada in Italy
Taking better care of herself has meant she’s able to keep up with her busy schedule, including new shows shot at home and abroad. In September 2019, she and chef pal Bobby Flay headed to Europe for a month to shoot Bobby and Giada in Italy (now streaming on Discovery+) in Rome and Tuscany with her as his guide to Italy’s food. “It was really his passion project, and I was lucky enough to go with him,” she says. The trip was fun though also fast-paced and challenging. “He’s a good traveling companion,” she says. “But there were days where I was like, ‘OK, I’ve had enough of him. I need my own time.’ But that’s also [what happens] when you put two people together who are both used to being the boss and the star, and then they’re asked to share.” It was Flay’s dream show, but Italy is De Laurentiis’ home country, and episodes feature her family (including her mom, Veronica, who won Flay’s heart). Watching the show was bittersweet, she says. It’s hard to say when—if— they’ll be able to pull off a project like that in a post-pandemic world. In the meantime, she’s ready to share her new way of living and eating with Eat Better, Feel Better. And now, more than ever, many of us are ready to join her. “With COVID, we’ve started to see how we really need to get our bodies into shape,” De Laurentiis says. And by “shape,” she means how you feel and function versus size. “It’s an exploration and really self-therapy,” she says. “I think getting comfortable in your own skin is basically the journey of this life.”
Giada’s 411
Family business: Although De Laurentiis was born into a famous filmmaking family—grandfather Dino De Laurentiis was a legendary producer (King Kong, Conan the Barbarian and Blue Velvet are just some of his hits) and her grandmother was Italian actress Silvana Mangano—they also have a strong culinary connection. At one time her great-grandparents owned a pasta factory outside Naples, and grandpa Dino owned Italian specialty food markets in New York and Beverly Hills. She’s followed in his footsteps with her own e-commerce site, Giadzy. Pizza night: “I started making pizza dough with my grandfather when I was about 5 or 6. I remember the pizza parties on Sunday with all of us kids on stools making our pizzas. I still try to do that today with Jade, which is super fun.” Making connections: De Laurentiis enjoys interacting with fans on social media. “People who express how they feel about the recipes or have ideas—they very much influence me.” Biggest temptation: It still takes discipline to keep her sweet tooth in check, she admits. “I taste things. I won’t have a whole cookie. I’ll have a piece of a cookie.” But living with a 12-year-old means sweets are in the house. Her strategy: Stash goodies in the freezer. “Since I don’t go into the freezer all the time, the temptation is a little less.” Favorite takeout order: Sushi Favorite cocktail: A negroni, the classic Italian sipper made with gin, red vermouth and Campari. (And, yes, she’s a fan of actor Stanley Tucci’s Instagram-famous version.) Best treat: Having someone else cook for her. “I’m so used to being the only one in the kitchen, it’s such a treat if anyone cooks for me. Breakfast would be my top choice. If only Jade knew how to make homemade croissants!” Pandemic self-care: “Baking.” De Laurentiis hopped on the bread-baking bandwagon, even making her own sourdough starter. “I also made way too many loaves of banana bread, but who’s counting?” Other stay-sane strategies: daily yoga, bedtime meditation and walks on the beach. Advice she’d give her younger self: “Don’t eat so much sugar!” she says, laughing. Also: “You don’t have to work so hard—it’s all going to work out.” Best advice she ever got: Her grandfather Dino De Laurentiis once told her, “Just make sure you can look at yourself in the mirror every day and be proud of what you’ve done, whether you’re successful or not.” Recent binge-watch: The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix. “I learned so much about chess!” Book recommendation:American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins. “I love the descriptive storytelling,” says De Laurentiis. “There aren’t many books that get me from page one, and that one did.” Must-play game: “I play Exploding Kittens with my daughter. It sounds ridiculous, especially since I have two kittens, but it’s a super-fun card game.” Next,: An Antioxidant-Filled Sweet Potato Rice Bowl With a Fried Egg From Giada De Laurentiis
